Packing for wells.



W. S. PIERCE.

PACKING FOR WELLS.

APPLICATION FILED 00111, 1913 Patented Mar. 24, 191 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM S. PIERCE, OF FRANKLIN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO CHARLES A. PIERCE, OF FRANKLIN, PENNSYLVANIA.

PACKING FOR WELLS.

To (ZZZ 4.07201 it may concern Be it known that I, IVILLIAM S. PIERCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Franklin, in the county of Venango and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Packing for lVells; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to packings for oil, gas, or other wells, and has for its purpose to provide a construction which may be readily lowered to the desired depth in the well boring or shaft; and by a simple and automatic operation caused to assume its functional position and effectively prevent the flow of water or other foreign matter from the ground above into the well.

The invention has for its further purpose to provide a packing of the character in question comprising a minimum number of parts which will not easily get out of order when assembled for operation; and which by the peculiar construction and arrangement of parts, will readily permit of the withdrawal of the piping and the parts of the packing from the well.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, and in which similar reference symbols indicate corresponding parts in the several views: Figure 1 illustrates partly in elevation and in section the pipe and packing as being lowered into the well. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section of the packing ring; and Fig. 4 is an elevation of the pipe and packing showing the parts in set position.

Referring to the construction in further detail, 1 designates the well boring, through which the oil or gas is carried by the casing or pipe, comprising sections 2 and 3 that are united by a coupling 4. At its lower end thepipe is fitted with a collar 5 screwthreaded thereon and having a flared opening leading into the pipe passage.

The packing per se consists of a sleeve 6,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 11, 1913.

Patented Mar. 24, 1914.

serial No. 794,682.

of elastic material, which closely fits the pipe section 3, and which, at its upper end, is channeled or grooved, as at 7, to provide in wardly and outwardly flaring portions 8 and 9, respectively. The outwardly flaring portion of the elastic sleeve is adapted to lightly engage with the wall of the well when the pipe or shaft (2, 3) is being lowered into position, and thereby prevent the entrance of any foreign matter from above into the well below.

After the pipe has been lowered to the desired depth for pumping, the sleeve 6 is adapted to be packed or compressed, to the end of forcing the outer wall of the sleeve body against the surrounding surface of the well shaft, and at the same time against the pipe to the end of providing a packing having the maximum sealing qualities. The means for effecting the compression of the packing consists of a ring or collar 10 loosely fitted to slide on the pipe section 3 between the packing sleeve and the coupling a, and the lower edge 11 of said ring is tapered or shaped complementary to the groove 7 between the flared portions 8 and 9 of the sleeve.

In lowering the pipe into the well shaft, the coupling 4 engages with the ring 10, and this in turn engaging with the sleeve 6 forces the latter, due to the weight of the pipe, down the well to the desired depth, and the pipe or casing is then raised slightly to remove the lowering apparatus. and in moving upwardly the pipe section 3 slips through the packing sleeve, After the packer has been set to the required depth the pipe is suspended from above and the pumping operation started, and the pressure beneath the sleeve. is consequently removed. The removal of the pressure aforesaid allows the pressure above to act to force the sleeve, assisted by the weight of the ring 10, into contact with the collar 5, and during the pumping operation the weight on the ring 10 further compresses the sleeve, as will be understood. Following this, the ring 10 will constantly tend to force the sleeve in a downward direction until the entire cross section of the latter has been expanded and the outer sleeve surface brought into contact with the well boring. The parts will then have the relative positions indicated in Fig. 4, when the well is ready for regular operation.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention, and therefore I do not wish to be limited to such features except as may be required by the claims.

I claim;

' 1. The combination with a pipe, of a well packing therefor comprising an expansible sleeve slidably mounted on the pipe and having a flared end; a collar mounted on the pipe for limiting the sliding movement of the sleeve; and a gravity actuated ring slidably mounted on the pipe and having a reduced end engaging with the flared end of the sleeve, and adapted to expand said sleeve, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a pipe, of a well packing therefor comprising a rubber sleeve slidably mounted on the pipe'and having inward and upwardly disposed flaring end portions; a collar secured on the lower end of the pipe for limiting the sliding movement of the sleeve; and a gravity actuated ring slidably mounted on the pipe and having a reduced portion engaging between the flaring portions of the sleeve, andadapted to engage with and expand the sleeve through the weight of the piping, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a pipe having a coupling, of a well packing therefor comprising an expansible sleeve slidably mounted on the pipe and having inner and outwardly disposed flaring portions at one end; a collar mounted on the pipe at the lower end thereof for limiting the sliding move ment of the sleeve; and a ring slidably mounted on the pipe between said sleeve and coupling and engaging with the sleeve between said end flaring portions, and adapted to be engaged by the pipe coupling to efl'ect the expansion of the sleeve through the weight of the piping, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

' WILLIAM S.-PIERCE. Witnesses:

MARGARET MARTIN, JOHN L. NESBIT, 

